Samsara BioCapital LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Samsara BioCapital LLC decreased its stake in shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) by 50.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 97,625 shares of the company's stock after selling 97,600 shares during the quarter. Verona Pharma comprises about 0.6% of Samsara BioCapital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Samsara BioCapital LLC owned about 0.12% of Verona Pharma worth $4,534,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma during the third quarter valued at approximately $16,103,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Verona Pharma by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 193,707 shares of the company's stock worth $8,996,000 after purchasing an additional 37,872 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,766 shares of the company's stock worth $1,165,000 after purchasing an additional 4,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,166 shares of the company's stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Verona Pharma news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 90,360 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.98, for a total transaction of $811,432.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,377,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at $129,107,040.48. This trade represents a 0.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 79,264 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.35, for a total value of $661,854.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,608,976 shares in the company, valued at $21,784,949.60. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 250,080 shares of company stock valued at $2,194,582 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company's stock.

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

Shares of Verona Pharma stock traded up $0.47 on Friday, hitting $72.73. 1,449,011 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,267,559. Verona Pharma plc has a 1 year low of $11.39 and a 1 year high of $74.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a current ratio of 13.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a PE ratio of -37.88 and a beta of 0.16.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.49. The company had revenue of $98.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.47 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.95 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on VRNA. Roth Capital set a $83.00 price objective on Verona Pharma in a report on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Monday, April 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Roth Mkm started coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $93.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verona Pharma has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.50.

Verona Pharma Profile

Verona Pharma plc, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of respiratory diseases with unmet medical needs. The company's product candidate is ensifentrine, an inhaled and dual inhibitor of the phosphodiesterase (PDE) 3 and PDE4 enzymes that acts as both a bronchodilator and an anti-inflammatory agent in a single compound, which is in Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and cystic fibrosis.